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Author
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Topic: Photo of the week 923 (July 2, 2022)
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heng44
Member Posts: 3600
From: Netherlands
Registered: Nov 2001
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posted 07-02-2022 02:17 AM
   
 Gemini 8 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Dave Scott leave the destroyer USS Leonard F. Mason after it docked in Okinawa in the evening of March 17, 1966. Behind them is astronaut Wally Schirra. |
Ian Limbrey
Member Posts: 171
From: England
Registered: Nov 2012
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posted 07-02-2022 03:20 AM
Interesting photo Ed! After what they went through during their Gemini 8 mission they both deserved a walk on the Moon and they were the only Gemini combined crew who did walk on the Moon! |
Headshot
Member Posts: 1089
From: Vancouver, WA, USA
Registered: Feb 2012
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posted 07-02-2022 10:07 AM
The naval officer leading Armstrong and Scott is the Leonard F. Mason's skipper, Alan M. Hazen.Great picture Ed, I have not seen that one before. |
ejectr
Member Posts: 1917
From: Killingly, CT
Registered: Mar 2002
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posted 07-03-2022 08:39 AM
Hard to understand why a naval aviator would be captain of a destroyer. He has brown shoes on. Back then, only naval aviators wore brown shoes. All others black, as is the officer trailing Wally. Incidentally, Wally is wearing brown shoes. A naval aviator. |
Jonnyed
Member Posts: 556
From: Dumfries, VA, USA
Registered: Aug 2014
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posted 07-03-2022 11:49 AM
Good catch on the brown shoes for the CO. That definitely doesn't comport for a Destroyer.And it looks like the astronauts have on their Converse Chuck Taylors. |
Headshot
Member Posts: 1089
From: Vancouver, WA, USA
Registered: Feb 2012
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posted 07-03-2022 01:02 PM
That is an interesting observation about the shoe color. I have seen another image of Armstrong and Scott shaking hands with the same officer aboard ship as part of some departure ceremony, but the individual was not identified. I looked up the name of the skipper on a naval website. I am curious to find out the story behind this. |
Jonnyed
Member Posts: 556
From: Dumfries, VA, USA
Registered: Aug 2014
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posted 07-03-2022 01:58 PM
Makes you wonder if the officer in black shoes behind the astronauts is the actual CO and the officer in brown shoes is some kind of direct liaison officer... but we've entered the realm of speculation which is usually not profitable.It might settle the question a little better if we could make out the rank on the shoulder boards but I cannot. |
ejectr
Member Posts: 1917
From: Killingly, CT
Registered: Mar 2002
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posted 07-03-2022 07:47 PM
Neither officer has "scrambled eggs" on their visor so that would indicate Lieutenant Commander and below as their rank. The officer leading the way appears to be a Lieutenant Cdr from what I can tell with a magnifier. Possibly a CO rank when I was in the Navy in 1967-73. But because of the brown shoes...I don't think that is the CO of the destroyer. |
Headshot
Member Posts: 1089
From: Vancouver, WA, USA
Registered: Feb 2012
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posted 07-03-2022 08:22 PM
After seeing another image, Jon confirmed that the shoulder boards are that "of an O-5 U.S. Navy Commander—exactly what would be the rank of the CO of a Destroyer."Another website states that Hazen had joined the U.S. Army Air Corps before joining the U.S. Navy in WWII. I am not familiar with military protocols of that era, but perhaps that might explain the brown shoes. |
ejectr
Member Posts: 1917
From: Killingly, CT
Registered: Mar 2002
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posted 07-03-2022 08:25 PM
Can't be a Commander. He has no scrambled eggs on his visor. |
Jonnyed
Member Posts: 556
From: Dumfries, VA, USA
Registered: Aug 2014
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posted 07-03-2022 09:30 PM
In the other photo that Bill sent me he is clearly a commander (three full strips on his shoulder boards) and has "scrambled eggs." Bill maybe you should post that photo too since it is a good companion piece to the Photo of the Week here?Interesting enough too is that the height of the officer (relative to Armstrong) corresponds very closely between the two photos. |
328KF
Member Posts: 1360
From:
Registered: Apr 2008
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posted 07-03-2022 10:19 PM
Given that the USS Mason was a contingency recovery vessel and the mission ended the way it did, how was it that Wally was aboard? Was he flown out on a helo from a carrier when the ship was called upon to pick the crew up? |
heng44
Member Posts: 3600
From: Netherlands
Registered: Nov 2001
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posted 07-04-2022 02:40 AM
Schirra and Frank Borman were in Yokohama on a publicity tour after Gemini 6/7. Deke Slayton ordered Wally to meet the crew when they arrived in Okinawa and take them to Honolulu, where Borman had been sent to get the medical team ready. |
Headshot
Member Posts: 1089
From: Vancouver, WA, USA
Registered: Feb 2012
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posted 07-04-2022 09:19 AM
The photo I have is technically not my property, so I do not feel right posting it. Sorry.How Wally got on board the Leonard F. Mason is detailed (with typical panache) in "Schirra's Space." I still wish we had a definitive answer about the brown shoes the skipper is wearing. |
328KF
Member Posts: 1360
From:
Registered: Apr 2008
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posted 07-04-2022 10:18 AM
Ah, very good. Thanks. I have a copy of Wally’s book... I'll pull it out and read his version of the story. |
ejectr
Member Posts: 1917
From: Killingly, CT
Registered: Mar 2002
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posted 07-05-2022 09:31 AM
No need to post that photo. I believe what you say. The photo of him in the thread is distant and the wrong angle. I had to blow it up to the point of blurryness.But the brown shoes are a mystery. Maybe from his Army days as a pilot. |
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